Before jumping into that online opportunity your friend told you about, sit down and read this to avoid falling into the hands of scammers.

1. BE WEARY OF TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE OFFERS

Offers like invest #2,000 and get #20,000 in 2 hours are most likely to be scam. If what they claim is true then why don't they keep investing and investing their money. Think twice before continuing.

2. DON'T ACT UNDER PRESSURE

Scammers pressure you to act immediately. They want you to act before you have time to think. Don't fall for it. Never act under pressure. Legitimate business owners will give you time to think and make a decision. Anyone that pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer. RUN!

3. AVOID UNCLEAR/ COMPLICATED OFFERS

Real, legitimate offers are clear and simple enough for people to understand.
If they provide you with unclear information, or try to make the offer look complicated, that's a warning that they are just after your money. RUN MY DEAR, RUN!


4. NEVER FORGET TO DO A RESEARCH

Before jumping into that opportunity, do a research. You can ask your friends or family about it, chances are that they know one or two things about it.
You can also check the internet. Do a comprehensive research on the brand or business. Do they have a social media presence and are they active on social media? Do they have any engagements? What are their followers saying about the business? A simple online research will tell you a lot about the business.

You can also do a search with the name of the business on Google with words like 'scam', 'legit', 'complaints' to see if there are others who were scammed.

E.g 'is Jumia legit?'
'is Forex a scam?'

Finally, if you feel that a business isn't legitimate, do not buy from/ invest in / sign up for whatever they offer.

It's always better to be safe than sorry.

I hope you will able to make well informed decisions next time an opportunity comes your way.

Stay safe.

Stay smart.

Share this with your friends and family to prevent them from falling into the hands of scammers.